Sunday, Septuagesima: The Third Sunday Before Lent, 5 February 2023
The sorrows of death encompassed me, the pains of hell gat hold upon me : and in my tribulation I made my prayer unto the Lord, and he regarded my supplication out of his holy temple. Ps. ibid. I will love thee o Lord my strength : the Lord is my stony rock, my fortress, and my Saviour. V Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Collect
O Lord, we beseech thee favourably to hear the prayers of thy people : that we, who are justly punished for our offenses, may be mercificully delivered by thy goodness, for the glory of thy Name.Through Jesus Christ our Saviour. who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end.
The lesson from the Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 9.24-)
24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew (20.1-)
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. 8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
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Homily by Fr. Dcn. Maverick
The Christian journey can correctly be considered a struggle with one's own self. As we approach the Lenten fast, we are faced with not only bodily disciple of food and drink, but a deeper discipline of growing closer unto God.
It is foolish to suppose that we can get "more" of God, if we don't offer more of ourselves to God. Every Lent is an opportunity to delve deeper into one's own self, to consider what is inside. The Christian faith teaches that Christ is one person with two natures, those two natures are constant union and cooperation.
Christ's divine nature may be accessed through physical means in the Sacraments, and sacramentals, and also by reading God's word, this might be the appropriate time for us to prepare ourselves in prayer for Great Lent. Paul speaks of this great race that we are a part of in 1 Cor 9.
We are expected to "run" and "strive," as these are the means that we will obtain the incorruptible prize.
St Gregory of Nyssa remarks, "As far as you extend your efforts in behalf of piety, so far will the greatness of your soul extend through efforts and toils toward what the Lord urges us. . ."
By striving in this season of fasting and praying, we have much to achieve.
St Basil of Caseasera states, "No one is crowned except he strive lawfully." To strive "lawfully" we shouldn't cheat, seeking only to display godliness but deny its power.
False humility and repentance do our souls no good because they lack substance, only genuine striving in humility and honesty before the Lord avails us much. Integrity before the Lord is the only thing that makes sense, simply pretending in front of our brothers and sisters is meaningless because we forfeit a great series of growth unto God.
It is easy to indulge, but we are given grace and mercy in this season to focus on habits that might have needed to deal with in the previous seasons. Let us not miss out on the incorruptible crown and the treasure of God's incredible benefits of peace and union with him. Christ is the objective Joy, the objective Truth, and the objective Beauty.
By sinning, or being idle, we do our souls no benefit:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Heb 12.1)
Scripture speaks of that which entangles us, in fact, it seems that there are innocent things and even needless habits that may hinder us without it even being necessarily sinful! It "entangles" us!
Blessed Clement of Rome remarks, "Wherefore, having so many great and glorious examples set before us, let us turn again to the practice of that peace which from the beginning was the mark set before us."
In fact the Greek term for "entangled" literally means that which "easily surrounds."
The Gospel passage might slightly give us more perspective, was the story unfair to us? To we suppose that all the workers were supposed to get the same amount of denarii?
St Augustine says, "The lesser are therefore taken as first, because the lesser are to be made rich. de Sanc. Virg., 26: Because that life eternal shall be equal to all the saints, a denarius is given to all; but forasmuch as in that life eternal the light of merits shall shine diversely, there are with the Father many mansions; so that under this same denarius bestowed unequally one shall not live longer than another, but in the many mansions one shall shine with more splendour than another."
Sometimes we need to be tested, and this passage tests our sensibilities. What is God allowed to do with us? Sometimes we feel entitled like the Old brother in the parable of the Prodigal's Son, sometimes we feel we deserve more. Yet, maybe our hearts are not in the right place.
Perhaps, we already possess everything in the Father's house already, and yet we forget that in the words of St Isaac, God is not "just" but "unjust." I don't suppose St Isaac's words are to be taken literally, but only to make us see how great and scandalous God's grace can be sometimes.
Remember, we have equal access to God in his holy family. Our attitudes should be readjusted, we are children of God, not mere servants. Those with orphan hearts find it hard to relate to God as his children and are easily offended when God blesses us with things entitled to us.
Consider Theophylact of Ochrid's words,
"Evening means the end of the world. Therefore at the end each one receives his penny, which is the gift of the Holy Spirit re-fashioning man into the image of God and making him a sharer in the divine nature. Those who lived before Christ’s incarnation labored more, because death was not yet then destroyed, nor the devil crushed, but sin still had its full vitality. But we who by the grace of Christ have been made righteous through baptism receive power to conquer our opponent who has already been cast down and slain by Christ. Also, according to the first interpretation, those who believed in their youth have a greater labor than those who approached in old age, for the youth, warring with passions, must bear the burden of anger and the heat of desires, while the old man is in tranquility. Nevertheless, all are deemed worthy of the one gift of the Holy Spirit. The parable, then, teaches us that it is possible even in old age to repent and obtain the kingdom, for this is the eleventh hour. Surely the saints are not envious of those who receive the same reward? Far from it. But this shows here that the good things given to the righteous are so great as to even incite one to envy."
May we think deeper about these holy passages in the Scriptures, may God teaches us about the proper meaning of intimacy, may we seek God's blessing of Himself, his presence, and his peace. Let us focus on our own progress, instead of thinking of our brother or sister's progress.
I have said these things in the name + of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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